Veterans Day with the Blue Angels
A Japanese Zero and a Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” torpedo also buzzed the airfield during the Homecoming. But these Japanese war birds weren’t the real things. The terms of the August 1945 surrender agreement between the U.S. and Japan called for the destruction of all offensive Japanese weapons. Only three authentic Zeros exist, recovered and restored wrecks from crashes in the Pacific.
These versions were actually American planes — a North American SNJ T-6 Texan trainer as the Zero and a BT-13 Valiant trainer as the Kate torpedo bomber. These examples were among several modified by 20th Century Fox (at $20,000 a copy) to mimic the Japanese combat aircraft in the 1970 Pearl Harbor attack film Tora! Tora! Tora! Fox’s $25 million production budget actually surpassed the cost (to Japanese) of Pearl Harbor attack itself.
But perhaps the best show depiction of distinctively American brazenness is Les Shockley’s Super Shockwave. The Super Shockwave is a 1957 Chevy truck with two J-34 jet engines strapped to its rear. The fire-spitting, smoke-puffing Super Shockwave generates 10,000 pounds of thrust and can hit speeds of 336 miles per hour. Before he hit the runway for his Saturday performance, a fire-suited Shockley sat in the truck cab bemoaning the economic wreckage wrought by Pelosi-Obama. The side of his jet truck reads “Sponsor Wanted.”
So get yourself to a Blue Angels Airshow in 2012. In this era of military budget cuts, it won’t be long before the Blue Angels are nothing but a squad of drones flown by pilots in double-wides in Vegas.
Nice shots. Every air show I have ever attended has drawn a tear from me while I stood there watching in complete awe. This is real America unlike what the left protrays as their America-i.e. OWS, Che shirts, crony capitalism and cradle to grave government largesse.
To think that the Blue Angel’s pilots and the other demonstration pilots have flown in combat to protect our nation and us is the epitome of heroism and patriotism.
As for eventually having to pay for their performance-not a problem.
great post. I saw the Blue Angels the week before this show at Randolph AFB in San Antonio. Helluva great show. I got to shake hands with one of the Doolittle Raiders and take the kids through some great USAF cargo planes–c130, C5 and C17. They also got to look into the bomb bay of the B1. A great show and the Blue Angels are an extraordinary crew of professionals in every way. Loved it.
Even with budget cuts, the Blue Angels aren’t likely to be going anywhere. They’ve been the Navy’s best recruitment tool for years. Although, with the repeal of DADT, they may be forced to paint one pink.
Rather miss my office at an old job at MCAS Beaufort. Windows facing an F/A-18 flight line. Best view of any civilian job I’ve ever had. Sure, it could get a little noisy…but it was good noise.
I was stationed at MCAS Bft 1999-2003. I too miss the sound of Hornets spooling up. There was a sign, on the approach to the main gate I think, that said “the sound of freedom”. Said sound was distracting as hell on Parris Island.
That’s about the timeframe I was there as well, over in the NADEP area.